EcoRenovator - Coal furnace

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Yeah coal, depending on how you get it can be cheaper than natural gas.

The snow-pocalypse in the north east reenforces the need to have a good fuel reserve on hand.
Wood, coal, lpg, wood pellet reserves.
I switched over to use more LPG to conserve wood this year, it hasn't been exceptionally cold, just the cold just won't leave, you think it's done and surprise another hard freeze.

The next few days here are going to have lows down in the low teens.
I hope that 10F is going to be the lowest. (So I can leave the old Sanyo running).
Next Tuesday, the lows will be in the 20s again.. Warmish.. ;)

Here you go, hit play, watch Boston and be horrified.. ;)
https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/anal...018031700&fh=0

Quote:

Originally Posted by oil pan 4 (Post 58402)

Solar heat doesn't work so well at night.
It also can get brutal cold, so far the worst was a week of -10°F nights.

Ever thought of thermal storage?

To use thermal storage for home heating it would have to be part of a much larger and more complex liquid heating setup.

Quote:

Originally Posted by oil pan 4 (Post 59144)

To use thermal storage for home heating it would have to be part of a much larger and more complex liquid heating setup.

a big tank full of water, some insulation, a heat source and a radiator?

heck, you might as well start a power plant. gotta find a way to break even on those transportation costs!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xringer (Post 57915)

I burned coal in my multi-fuel HS Tarm boiler for a while. It was a PITB to haul it home.
At the time, I used my little Subaru 1978 4x4 wagon (The Brat pickup with a station wagon body).
Fold down the back seat and shoveled it in.. No bags of coal around here!

One thing I learned the hard way, is that setting up for an overnight burn, must be done very carefully.
At least with the HS Tarm. I only had one over-heat (3AM) and that was lesson.
Wood is easier to control, the auto air control works great with wood.
I only did a few carloads of coal before I gave it up..
Over the years, I gave up wood too. Been trying to give up oil..
But, this dang global warming has me burning oil again this winter..
Using flow-thur hot-water heat for about a week solid now..
It's 3° now and going to -3° in a few hours.. :eek:

The -20F Gree is working pretty well so far. I just shut down the Sanyo..
Another -20F Gree might be my next home heating investment..

Happy New Year!!
Rich

are they seriously good down to -20F? asking for my garage...

A radiator is only going to heat one room I would need them all over the house.
To heat the house over night I would probably need around 30,000 btu per hour for 8 hours, or 240,000 btu. Let's say I had a tank of water and was able to heat it to 140°F and then drop the water down to 120°F before the sun came up.
To store 240,000 btu with a 20°F drop I would need a 1,400 gallon tank of water that's roughly a 8x8x16 tank of water, a big tank or a small swimming pool.
So no.
Fire better.

does your house have forced air? if so, you only need one coil. if not, what method of heating do you currently have?

also, phase change wax could significantly reduce the volume you need to store. I've yet to look into price on that stuff, so no idea what it costs.

I have another lead I'm going to try on getting coal.
NM also went more than a week with overcast skys, I didn't even think that was possible.
Longest I had seen before that was 3 or 4 days.

Quote:

Originally Posted by u3b3rg33k (Post 59149)

Actually daox did some calculations on this and it only reduces size by around 20%. It would be easier and cheaper just to build a water system 20% bigger.